Tactile elements for a wearable eye piece

ABSTRACT

A wearable computing device comprises one or more one eye pieces each of which further comprises a flexible frame surrounding a display screen and tactile elements arranged on the perimeter of the display screen. The tactile elements provide tactile feedback to the user that is synchronous with the display on the display screen. A detection system is also included in the flexible frame to monitor the movements of a wearer&#39;s eyes and the eye sockets and to execute various tasks in response to the detected movements. A visual cortex thought detector also coupled to the wearable computing device obtains information regarding the wearer&#39;s thoughts and manipulates a display on the display screen based on the obtained information.

The present disclosure relates to systems and methods for generating andmanipulating augmented or virtual reality displays.

BACKGROUND

Increasing computational power of microprocessors and sophistication ofdata transmission systems has permitted development of portable devicessuch as tablets and smart phones to the extent that they are replacingtraditional desktops and laptops as preferred devices not only forpersonal computing but also for business purposes. In a furtherevolution, wearable computing devices have emerged which are capable ofpresenting additional information, for example, from the Internet, thatcan enhance a real world viewing experience of a user. Augmented realityglasses are used to generate overlays on the field of view of an eye topresent additional information or to collect and record information fromthe real world. In order to address the processing requirements for suchportable devices, cloud computing systems are used so that theprocessing intensive tasks associated with data manipulation areexecuted at a central location, remote from the user while the resultsof the processing tasks are distributed among the various portabledevices.

SUMMARY

This disclosure is related to a wearable computing system that providescontent retrieved locally or from a networked source in synchrony withtactile feedback. The wearable computing system comprises at least onewearable eye piece. The wearable eye piece further comprises a flexibleframe configured for shape-mating engagement with an eye socket of ahuman wearer such that ambient light transmission is substantiallyblocked between the frame and the eye socket. A display screen is fixedto an aperture in the frame such that the display shape-matingly engageswith the flexible frame covers a field of view of the eye. A firstprocessor that facilitates processing data and generating a display onthe display screen and a processor readable storage medium for storingprogram logic are also comprised within the wearable computing system.In addition, a plurality of tactile elements responsive to said programlogic arranged on the flexible frame, the tactile elements arecommunicatively coupled with the first processor and are selectivelyactivatable by the first processor in response to the display on thedisplay screen. Therefore, the tactile element control logic is includedin the program logic stored on the processor readable storage medium andis executable by the first processor, for controlling the tactileelements.

In an embodiment, the flexible frame comprises an eye gasket such thatthe plurality of tactile elements are arranged on a rim of the eyegasket. The eye gasket facilitates the mating with the eye socket andthe blockage of the ambient light. In an embodiment, the flexible framefurther comprises a nose bridge member that comprises the firstprocessor. The flexible frame can also comprise a transceiver such thatthe transceiver receives and sends communication signals. At least onespeaker and a microphone are also arranged on the flexible frame so thatthe speaker generates audio signals and the microphone is operable forreceiving audio input.

In an embodiment, the wearable computing system comprises two wearableeye pieces arranged side by side and configured to mate with each of twoeye sockets of the human wearer.

In an embodiment, a detection module that detects movements associatedwith the eye socket and the eye of the wearer. In an embodiment, thedetection module comprises a camera. In an embodiment, the detectionmodule also comprises the plurality of tactile elements.

In an embodiment, the programming logic further comprises imagemanipulation logic, executed by the first processor, for controllingdisplay on the display screen in response to the movements detected bythe detection module. In an embodiment, the programming logic alsocomprises a tactile element mapping logic, executed by the firstprocessor, for mapping each of the plurality of tactile elements todifferent parts of an image projected on the display screen such thatactivation of a part of the image activates a respective one of thetactile elements.

A method of providing content is disclosed in an embodiment. The methodcomprises, displaying to a user, by a processor, visual content on adisplay screen fixed to a flexible frame of a wearable computing device.The flexible frame is engaged in a shape mating arrangement with atleast one of the user's eyes. The method further comprises, providing tothe user, by the processor, tactile feedback around the user's eye, thetactile feedback is provided in synchrony with the visual content. In anembodiment, the tactile feedback is provided by activating the tactileelements attached to the flexible frame for example, by vibrating orheating at least a subset of the tactile elements.

In an embodiment, each of the tactile elements are mapped to aparticular part of an avatar comprised in the visual content andproviding tactile feedback in synchrony with the visual content furthercomprises activating specific ones of tactile elements based onexperiences of the particular part of the avatar in the visual content.

In an embodiment, the method further comprises detecting, by theprocessor, movements of one or more of eyes and facial muscles aroundthe eyes and executing particular tasks in response to the detectedmovements. In an embodiment, detecting the movements of the eyes andfacial muscles further comprises collecting, by the processor, dataregarding movement of one or more of the eyes and the facial musclesfrom a camera the particular tasks executed by the processor comprise atleast manipulation, by the processor, of a display on the display screenbased on the detected movements. In an embodiment, the particular tasksexecuted by the processor can also comprise mapping, by the processor,each of the tactile elements to a particular part of an avatar comprisedin the visual content and manipulating, particular parts of an avatarcomprised in the visual content in response to the detected movements.

A non-transitory computer readable storage medium, comprising processorexecutable instructions is disclosed in an embodiment. The storagemedium comprises instructions that cause the processor to display visualcontent to a user on a display screen fixed to a flexible frame of awearable computing device, the flexible frame is engaged in a shapemating arrangement with at least one of the user's eyes. Theinstructions also cause the processor to provide tactile feedback to theuser around the user's eye, the tactile feedback is provided insynchrony with the visual content.

In an embodiment, the tactile feedback is provided by activating, by theprocessor, tactile elements attached to the flexible frame for example,by vibrating or heating at least a subset of the tactile elements. In anembodiment, each of the tactile elements are mapped to a particular partof an avatar comprised in the visual content and providing tactilefeedback in synchrony with the visual content further comprisesactivating specific ones of tactile elements based on experiences of theparticular part of the avatar in the visual content.

In an embodiment, the method further comprises detecting, by theprocessor, movements of one or more of eyes and facial muscles aroundthe eyes and executing particular tasks in response to the detectedmovements. In an embodiment, detecting the movements of the eyes andfacial muscles further comprises collecting, by the processor, dataregarding movement of one or more of the eyes and the facial musclesfrom a camera the particular tasks executed by the processor comprise atleast manipulation, by the processor, of a display on the display screenbased on the detected movements. In an embodiment, the particular tasksexecuted by the processor can also comprise mapping, by the processor,each of the tactile elements to a particular part of an avatar comprisedin the visual content and manipulating, particular parts of an avatarcomprised in the visual content in response to the detected movements.

A system comprising at least one tactile element mounted to a flexibleframe of a wearable eye piece is disclosed in an embodiment. The atleast one tactile element is mounted on a perimeter of a display screenof the wearable eyepiece. The tactile element is communicatively coupledto a processor and the flexible frame is configured for a shape matingengagement with an eye socket of a human wearer such that ambient lightis blocked. The tactile element comprises a base, a neck and a head, thetactile element is attached to the flexible frame at the base such thatthe head of the tactile element is in contact with the wearer's ski. Abi-directional actuation mechanism comprising a current-carrying coil, apair of magnets, and a signal contact plate is comprised within the baseof the tactile element. The bi-directional actuation mechanism isconfigured for actuating the tactile element and detecting movement ofmuscles in the eye socket of the wearer.

In an embodiment, the bi-directional actuation mechanism furthercomprises a spherical body within the signal contact plate for actuationof the tactile element. At least one of the magnets is attached to thespherical body. The spherical body and the signal contact plate areconfigured such that the spherical body can rotate freely along aplurality of axis within the signal contact plate. In an embodiment, thesystem can further comprise a plurality of speakers. A connecting wireconnects the spherical body with the plurality of speakers and a gel padis arranged such that the gel pad is in contact with the wearer andfaces of the speakers are positioned in the gel pad. In an embodiment,the tactile element comprises a heating element.

In an embodiment, the at least one tactile element comprises a pluralityof tactile elements. A subset of the plurality of tactile elements havesurfaces in contact with the wearer's skin textured in a manner that isdifferent from surfaces in contact with the wearer's skin of a differentsubset of the plurality of tactile elements. In an embodiment, thetactile element is a suction cup. In an embodiment, the tactile elementis a pin hole on the flexible frame.

A method of providing content is disclosed in an embodiment. The methodcomprises providing a tactile element on a flexible frame of a wearableeye piece that is in shape-mating engagement with an eye socket of ahuman wearer such that ambient light is blocked. The method furtherprovides for activating, by a processor, the tactile element insynchrony with video content displayed on a display screen of thewearable eye piece and detecting physical actuation of the tactileelement caused by movements in muscles of the eye socket by detectingcurrent induced in a coil comprised within the tactile element due tothe physical actuation.

In an embodiment, the activation of the tactile element in synchronywith the video content further comprises vibrating, by the processor,the tactile element by inducing current through a coil comprised withinthe tactile element. In an embodiment, activation of the tactile elementin synchrony with the video content further comprises heating, by theprocessor, a heating element comprised within the tactile element. In anembodiment, activation of the tactile element in synchrony with thevideo content further comprises generating, by the processor, suctionvia the tactile element that attracts the wearer's skin. In anembodiment, activation of the tactile element in synchrony with thevideo content further comprises providing, by the processor, audiofeedback to the wearer through speakers comprised within the tactileelement.

A computer readable storage medium is disclosed in an embodiment. Thecomputer readable medium comprises instructions, which when executed bya processor cause the processor to activate a tactile element insynchrony with video content displayed on a display screen of a wearableeye piece and detect physical actuation of the tactile element caused bymovements in muscles of the eye socket. The tactile element is fixed toa flexible frame of a wearable eye piece that is in shape-matingengagement with an eye socket of a human wearer such that ambient lightis blocked.

A system comprising at least one wearable eye piece is disclosed in anembodiment. The eye piece comprises a flexible frame, a display screenfixed to an aperture in the frame and a visual cortex input detectingmodule attached to the flexible frame for detecting input from thevisual cortex of the wearer. The flexible frame is configured forshape-mating engagement with an eye socket of a human wearer such thatambient light transmission is substantially blocked between the frameand the eye socket. A first processor in communication with the visualcortex input detecting module is further comprised in the system suchthat the first processor facilitates processing the input and generatinga display on the display screen based on program logic stored on aprocessor readable storage medium also comprised within the system.

In an embodiment, the programming logic comprises a visual cortexdisplay generating logic for generating a display on the display screenbased on the input from the visual cortex of the wearer. The visualcortex display generating logic further comprises avatar manipulationlogic for manipulating an avatar displayed on the display screen basedon the input from the visual cortex of the wearer. The programming logicalso comprises a visual cortex input storage logic for storing the inputfrom the visual cortex in a computer readable storage medium and asecondary display generating logic for generating the display based onstored input obtained from a visual cortex of a second user differentfrom the wearer.

In an embodiment, the system further comprises a plurality of tactileelements attached to the flexible frame, the tactile elements arecommunicatively coupled with the first processor and are selectivelyactivated by the first processor in response to the display on thedisplay screen. Tactile element manipulation logic, is comprised withinthe programming logic and executed by the first processor, formanipulating the tactile elements based on the input from the visualcortex of the wearer.

A method of providing content is disclosed in an embodiment. The methodcomprises various processor executable steps that include obtaining, bya first processor as electrical signals, input from a visual cortex of afirst user, interpreting the electrical signals to generate arepresentation of the input from the visual cortex of the first user andat least one of displaying or storing visual content based on therepresentation to the first user on a display screen. The display screenis fixed to a flexible frame of a wearable computing device, theflexible frame is engaged in a shape mating arrangement with at leastone of the first user's eye. In an embodiment, the visual content basedon the representation can be stored. In an embodiment, the visualcontent is the representation. In an embodiment, the display comprisesan avatar. In an embodiment, displaying the visual content to the firstuser based on the representation further comprises manipulating, by thefirst processor, using the input, a display shown to the first userprior to obtaining the input from the visual cortex. In an embodiment,manipulating a display further comprises changing, by the firstprocessor, a visual attribute of an element comprised in the displaybased on the input from the visual cortex. In an embodiment, the visualcontent comprises a pattern obtained as input from the visual cortex ofthe first user. The method further comprises activating, by the firstprocessor, a tactile element attached to the flexible frame based on theinput from the visual cortex.

The method also comprises transmitting, by a second processor, thevisual content to a second user different from the first user inaccordance with one embodiment. In an embodiment, the second processoris different from the first processor. The method further comprisessteps executed by the second processor. The steps comprise receivinginput from a visual cortex of the second user, generating new visualcontent by altering the visual content based on the input from thevisual cortex of the second user and storing the new visual content in aprocessor readable storage medium.

A computer readable storage medium, comprising processor executableinstructions is disclosed in an embodiment. The instructions whenexecuted by a processor cause the processor to obtain input from avisual cortex of a first user as electrical signals, generate arepresentation of the input from the visual cortex of the first user byinterpreting the electrical signals and display visual content based onthe representation on a display screen fixed to a flexible frame of awearable computing device. The flexible frame is engaged in a shapemating arrangement with at least one of the first user's eye.

These and other embodiments will be apparent to those of ordinary skillin the art by reference to the following detailed description and theaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawing figures, which are not to scale, and where like referencenumerals indicate like elements throughout the several views:

FIG. 1A is an illustration of a human user employing the wearablecomputing system/device in accordance with embodiments of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 1B shows a profile of the user with the wearable computing system;

FIG. 2A is an illustration that shows another view of the wearablecomputing system that faces the user in accordance with embodiments ofthe present disclosure;

FIG. 2B is an illustration that shows a user bearing a wearablecomputing system that comprises visual cortex thought detector;

FIG. 3 is an illustration that shows some example details of the tactileelements 110 in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 illustrates various views of the tactile elements in accordancewith embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing a cross section of one of thetactile elements 110 in accordance with embodiments of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 6 is an illustration that shows the plurality of tactile elementsproviding to the user, tactile feedback that is synchronous with aparticular display that comprises an avatar in accordance withembodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram depicting certain example modules within thewearable computing device in accordance with embodiments of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 8 shows a schematic figure of the wearable computing devicecommunicating with a remote server in accordance with embodiments of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 9 shows a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of a method ofproviding content to the user as executed by the wearable computingdevice in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 10 shows a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of a method ofproviding interactive content to the user as executed by the wearablecomputing device in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 11 shows a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of a method ofproviding interactive content to the user as executed by the wearablecomputing device in accordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 12 shows a flowchart 1200 illustrating an embodiment of aprocessor-executable method of providing tactile feedback that issynchronous with a display comprising an avatar.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Subject matter will now be described more fully hereinafter withreference to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof, andwhich show, by way of illustration, specific example embodiments.Subject matter may, however, be embodied in a variety of different formsand, therefore, covered or claimed subject matter is intended to beconstrued as not being limited to any example embodiments set forthherein; example embodiments are provided merely to be illustrative.Likewise, a reasonably broad scope for claimed or covered subject matteris intended. Among other things, for example, subject matter may beembodied as methods, devices, components, or systems. Accordingly,embodiments may, for example, take the form of hardware, software,firmware or any combination thereof. The following detailed descriptionis, therefore, not intended to be taken in a limiting sense.

In the accompanying drawings, some features may be exaggerated to showdetails of particular components (and any size, material and similardetails shown in the figures are intended to be illustrative and notrestrictive). Therefore, specific structural and functional detailsdisclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as arepresentative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variouslyemploy the disclosed embodiments.

The present invention is described below with reference to blockdiagrams and operational illustrations of methods and devices to selectand present media related to a specific topic. It is understood thateach block of the block diagrams or operational illustrations, andcombinations of blocks in the block diagrams or operationalillustrations, can be implemented by means of analog or digital hardwareand computer program instructions. These computer program instructionscan be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, specialpurpose computer, ASIC, or other programmable data processing apparatus,such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of thecomputer or other programmable data processing apparatus, implements thefunctions/acts specified in the block diagrams or operational block orblocks.

In some alternate implementations, the functions/acts noted in theblocks can occur out of the order noted in the operationalillustrations. For example, two blocks shown in succession can in factbe executed substantially concurrently or the blocks can sometimes beexecuted in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality/actsinvolved. Furthermore, the embodiments of methods presented anddescribed as flowcharts in this disclosure are provided by way ofexample in order to provide a more complete understanding of thetechnology. The disclosed methods are not limited to the operations andlogical flow presented herein. Alternative embodiments are contemplatedin which the order of the various operations is altered and in whichsub-operations described as being part of a larger operation areperformed independently.

A computing device may be capable of sending or receiving signals, suchas via a wired or wireless network, or may be capable of processing orstoring signals, such as in memory as physical memory states, and may,therefore, operate as a server. Thus, devices capable of operating as aserver may include, as examples, dedicated rack-mounted servers, desktopcomputers, laptop computers, set top boxes, integrated devices combiningvarious features, such as two or more features of the foregoing devices,or the like. Servers may vary widely in configuration or capabilities,but generally a server may include one or more central processing unitsand memory. A server may also include one or more mass storage devices,one or more power supplies, one or more wired or wireless networkinterfaces, one or more input/output interfaces, or one or moreoperating systems, such as Windows Server, Mac OS X, Unix, Linux,FreeBSD, or the like.

Throughout the specification and claims, terms may have nuanced meaningssuggested or implied in context beyond an explicitly stated meaning.Likewise, the phrase “in one embodiment” as used herein does notnecessarily refer to the same embodiment and the phrase “in anotherembodiment” as used herein does not necessarily refer to a differentembodiment. It is intended, for example, that claimed subject matterinclude combinations of example embodiments in whole or in part. Ingeneral, terminology may be understood at least in part from usage incontext. For example, terms, such as “and”, “or”, or “and/or,” as usedherein may include a variety of meanings that may depend at least inpart upon the context in which such terms are used. Typically, “or” ifused to associate a list, such as A, B or C, is intended to mean A, B,and C, here used in the inclusive sense, as well as A, B or C, here usedin the exclusive sense. In addition, the term “one or more” as usedherein, depending at least in part upon context, may be used to describeany feature, structure, or characteristic in a singular sense or may beused to describe combinations of features, structures or characteristicsin a plural sense. Similarly, terms, such as “a,” “an,” or “the,” again,may be understood to convey a singular usage or to convey a pluralusage, depending at least in part upon context. In addition, the term“based on” may be understood as not necessarily intended to convey anexclusive set of factors and may, instead, allow for existence ofadditional factors not necessarily expressly described, again, dependingat least in part on context.

Cloud computing has recently emerged as a solution to address situationswhere processor intensive tasks are needed to be carried out in theworld of mobile computing. They are used for personal computing tasksand by businesses for storage and data processing needs. In personalcomputing, gaming on the cloud has gained great popularity in view ofthe high processing resources demanded by graphics-intensive gamingsystem. The graphics are generated and rendered at a central locationand the rendered images are transmitted to user devices thereby reducingthe need for high-end processors on user devices.

Wearable computing and networked devices are another emerging aspect ofthe computing world. These wearable devices are carried on the body of auser who wears the devices. While the wearable devices can pair withexternal displays, they generally include their own displays of varyingsizes to present information. In certain embodiments, they are designedas eye glasses that augment an existing real world view of a user bygenerating overlays with appropriate information. In all the variousembodiments, the wearable computing devices require users gestures suchas clicking fingers, swiping on a surface or pressing buttons to executevarious tasks such as turning on or off a display, starting anapplication, exiting an application or connecting to another device.

Wearable computing systems designed to be worn as eye pieces and methodsrelated to such computing systems are disclosed in accordance withvarious embodiments described herein. The wearable computing systems aredesigned not only to provide passive audio-video experiences but also toprovide tactile feedback in consonance with the audio-video experiences.The computing systems are also interactive in that they receive inputfrom the user or wearer of the computing system and are responsive tothe received input. In an embodiment, the input can be received bymonitoring the wearer's eyes and the eye sockets which are surrounded bythe flexible frame of the computing system. In an embodiment, the inputcan be received by monitoring the electrical signals generated in thewearer's visual cortex.

FIG. 1A is an illustration of a human user 102 employing the wearablecomputing system/device 100. The computing system comprises twosymmetric eye pieces 104 and 106 each of which is configured to be usedsingly or to be used with the another symmetric eye piece. In anembodiment, both the eye pieces 104, 106 can comprise identicalcomponents. In an embodiment, the various components of the wearablecomputing system 100 can be distributed asymmetrically between the twoeye pieces 104, 106 such that each eye piece 104, or 106 is configuredfor specific usage in addition to being used together for otherapplications. In an embodiment, the eye pieces 104 and 106 aredetachably coupled to the bridging element 108 to facilitate suchflexible usage. Each eye piece 104, 106 comprises a respective frame124, 126 that includes a respective display screen 114 and 116 whichwhen the eye pieces 104, 106 are used together form a stereoscopicdisplay for the user 102. The frames 124, 126 are made from flexiblematerial so that they are configured for shape-mating engagement withthe eye sockets of the user 102 such that ambient light transmission issubstantially blocked between the frame and the eye sockets. Thus, theframes 124/126 are configured in order to be able to conform to theshape of the eye socket of the user 102 in a manner that blocks ambientlight surrounding the user 102 from leaking into the field of view ofthe user 102. In an embodiment, the ambient light that surrounds theuser 102 can be light that is generally present in the environment withor without a visible source. Thus, if the user 102 is viewing content onthe display screens 114, 116 in a virtual reality environment, the user102 can be completely immersed in the environment and not be distractedby the view or extraneous light from environment outside of the field ofview of the user 102. In an embodiment, the frames 124 and 126 can behollow and have space within them to allow electrical interconnectionsbetween various component parts of the wearable computing system 100.

In an embodiment, display screens 114, 116 can be flexible OLED (organiclight emitting diode) in order to conform to the shape of the user's 102face along with the flexible frames 124, 126. As an OLED display workswithout backlight, it can be thinner and lighter than liquid crystaldisplay (LCD) and a higher contrast ratio can be achieved in low ambientlight conditions. With display screens 114, 116 that are dense enoughand speakers or ear-pieces or headphones (not shown) comprising featuressuch as noise cancelling characteristics, the user 102 can thus interactwith content such as, viewing a movie or playing a video game in anenvironment that is as immersive as a movie theatre regardless of theactual location the user 102 may be situated in. In an embodiment, thescreens 114, 116 can have variable levels of opaqueness or transparencyto facilitate using the wearable computing system 100 in both virtualreality environments and augmented reality environments. Applying chargeto the OLED display screens 114/116 can vary their transparency for usein different settings.

The wearable computing system 100 also additionally comprises aplurality of tactile elements 110 that provide tactile feedback to theuser 102 around the eyes of the user 102 where the tactile elements 110are in contact with the user's 102 skin. For example, a subset of thetactile elements can convert electrical energy to mechanical motion suchas vibration or other forms of energy such as heat energy to provide thetactile feedback to the user 102. In an embodiment, the tactile elements110 are small structures having varying physical characteristics thatinclude physical and electrical connections with the frames 124/126 aswill be detailed further herein. In an embodiment, at least a subset ofthe tactile elements 110 can be capable of independent motion. In anembodiment, all the tactile elements 110 can be employed at the sametime to provide the tactile feedback or particular ones of the tactileelements 110 can be selected at any time to provide the tactile feedbackto the user 102 Various kinds of tactile feedback can be provided to theuser 102 based on the functionality built into the different tactileelements 110. By the way of illustration and not limitation, a firstsubset of the tactile elements 110 can comprise heating elements, asecond set of the tactile elements can be moveable or configured forvibration at various frequencies, or a third subset of tactile elementscan exert pressure. Again it may be appreciated that different tactileelements 110 can have different feedback mechanisms associated with themor all the tactile elements can each have all the tactile feedbackmechanisms built into it so that combinations of different tactileelements can be used to provide a particular kind of tactile feedback.

The tactile feedback provided to the user 102 can be associated with thecontent so that the plurality of tactile elements 110 are activated inconsonance with the displayed content such as a movie or a video game inorder to add an extra dimension to the user experience. In anembodiment, the various tactile elements 110 can be mapped to variousparts of an avatar (not shown) the user 102 is interacting with orassociated with so that the experiences of the avatar in the virtualworld can be translated to the user 102 or experienced or felt by theuser 102 via the tactile elements 110. Thus, the pressure of a touch, alocation of the touch and texture of the touch experienced by the avatarcan be translated to the user 102 as part of the user experiences in theimmersive environment of the wearable computing device 100. The avatarcan additionally interact with avatars of other users and the tactilefeedback provided to the user 102 can be further modified based on theinteractions between the avatar of the user 102 and the avatars of theother users.

The user 102 can employ the wearable computing system 100 for displayingand interacting with various types of data such as text, images or videoassociated with web pages or other content such as movies or videogames. In an embodiment, the content can be played from a console (notshown) that is connected to a local area network (LAN) including thewearable computing system 100. In an embodiment, the content can bestreamed to the wearable computing system 100 either directly from theInternet using a communication component (not shown) built into thewearable computing system 100 or via a Wi-Fi connection with anintermediate device such as a laptop computer or a cellular phone.

In an embodiment, the wearable computing system 100 not only providescontent and associated tactile feedback to the user 102 but alsofacilitates the user 102 interaction with the content. In an embodiment,the wearable computing system 100 comprises a detection module (notshown) that detects movement in the various parts of the eyes or eyesockets of the user 102 which facilitates the user 102 to interact withthe displayed content as will be detailed further infra. In anembodiment, the detection module can include a camera and a photodiodeto track movements of various parts of the user's 102 eyes. For example,movements of the user's 102 eye balls such that the user 102 glancing ata certain icon on the display screen(s) 114/116 for a predetermined timeperiod can act as a gesture such as a mouse click that can cause theprocessor to execute the particular task associated with the gesturesuch as selecting the icon. Similarly, movement of the user's 102 eyesafter such selection can cause movement of the selected icon along thedirection of motion of the user's 102 eye balls and the user 102subsequently stopping the movement at a particular second point can actto drop the icon at that particular point. The detection module can alsobe configured to detect finer differences or nuances in the movements ofthe different parts of the eye sockets covered by the wearable computingsystem 100 such as a user 102 or wearer closing the eyes for differenttime periods, squinting, raising one or more brows.

In an embodiment, the tactile elements 110 can also be configured to bepart of the detection module that detects user movements even whileproviding tactile sensations to the user 102. The plurality of tactileelements 110 can have subsets of elements with different shapes thatcomprise different types of transducers collecting different vectorsassociated with the user's 102 eye movements or gestures of eye muscles.For example, the tactile elements 110 can also comprise transducers thatare in physical contact with the facial muscles of the user 102 todetect movement in such muscles and generate corresponding electricalsignals that can be fed back to the processor and the display on thedisplay screens 114, 116 can be manipulated accordingly. In anembodiment, the location of a tactile element transmitting theelectrical signal and the strength of the signal can be used to detectparticular movements of the user's 102 facial muscles which can bemapped to provide particular input to the processor. Various eyemovements and gestures can thus be tracked and mapped to specific typesof input that can be used manipulate content is particular manner. Thus,the wearable computing system 100 can eliminate the need or complementother equipment such as joysticks or data gloves which are normally usedwith such wearable computing systems to receive user input.

In an embodiment, the wearable computing system 100 further comprises athought detector (not shown) that detects thoughts of the user 102 andchanges the display on the screen(s) 114, 116 based on such recordedthoughts. In an embodiment, the thought detector can comprise componentsthat records the electrical activity of the brain via leads that contactthe rear portion of the head where the virtual cortex of the brain issituated. Technologies such as EEG (electroencephalograph), are knownwhich provide ways of non-invasively observing human brain activity. Forexample, technologies such as Emotiv EPOC provided with headsets andrelated computer interfaces from Emotiv Lifescience can be adapted foruse with the wearable computing system 100 to record thoughts andmanipulate content as will be detailed further herein.

The wearable computing system 100 can additionally facilitate storinguser experiences, recreating the user experiences and exchanging userexperiences according to one embodiment. In an embodiment, a userexperience can comprise a content item with its associated audio andtactile feedback data. This allows the user 102 to consume an item ofcontent via the wearable computer 100, interact with the content itemand change the content item to create a new content item which can bestored in one or more of a local storage device or a processor readablestorage on the LAN or a remote processor readable storage on the ‘cloud’which can constitute one or more servers located remotely from the user102 and which stream content to the wearable computing device 100. Suchnew content items or user experiences created by the user 102 can beshared with other users. For example, a video game consumed by the user102 can have certain tactile feedback associated with certain portions.If desired, the user 102 can change the video game to layer anadditional tactile feedback and store the video game with the changedtactile feedback information as a user experience which may further beshared with other users. In an embodiment, the stored/shared userexperience can comprise additional content that is obtained fromexternal sources. For example, images or voice over obtained from othercontent can be added to a particular content item. In an embodiment, thenew content added to a user experience can be obtained from the user's102 thoughts by the thought detector associated with the wearablecomputing system 100.

FIG. 1B shows a profile of the user 102 with the wearable computingsystem 100. The wearable computing system 100 is in contact with theuser's 102 skin at a plurality of points. As the wearable computingsystem 100 is in a shape mating arrangement with the eye socket of theuser 102, the frame 126 conforms to the shape of the eye socket of theuser 102 and is in contact with the user's 102 skin around the eyesocket, as indicated at points 152 and 154 shown in the cross sectionalprofile illustrated in FIG. 1B. The shape conforming arrangement isoperative to substantially block ambient light from leaking into to thefield of view of the user 102. Additional points of contact include thepoints 156, 158 where the tactile elements 110 contact the user's 102skin. The various tactile sensations transmitted to the user 102 via thetactile elements 110 can thus be felt by the user 102 for example, atpoints 156, 158.

FIG. 2A is an illustration that shows another view of the wearablecomputing system 100 that faces the user 102 when the user 102 iswearing the wearable computing system 100 on his/her body. The flexibleframes 124, 126 each includes a suction mechanism or eye gaskets 204,206 that facilitates the wearable computing system/device 100 to befirmly attached the user's 102 face so that there is very little or noleakage of ambient light into the field of view of the user 102 or intothe space between the user's 102 eyes and the screens display screens114, 116. In addition, the wearable computing system 100 can includespeakers at appropriate locations such as near the ears in order toprovide acoustic feedback to the user. The wearable computing system 100can also include within the bridging member 108, power source(s), one ormore processors for executing tasks such as controlling the displayscreens 114, 116, providing Wi-Fi, infrared or other wirelesscommunication, and other processing tasks such as controlling othercomponents like the tactile elements 110 on the wearable computingsystem 100.

By the way of illustration and not limitation, FIG. 2B shows a profileof a user 102 bearing a wearable computing system 100 that comprises avisual cortex thought detector 220 which can be detachably coupled tothe wearable computing system 100, for example, via a coupling means,such as a band 222. The ends of the band 222 can be detachably coupledto the ends 232 and 234 of the wearable computing system 100 in a mannerthat the band 222 can encircle the rear of the user's 102 head. Thisarrangement facilitates the visual cortex thought detector 220 to recordthoughts from the visual cortex located on the rear side of the user's102 brain. Although the visual cortex thought detector 220 is shown asone component located at one part of the wearable computing system 100and in contact with a single portion of the user's 102 brain, it may beappreciated that this is not necessary. The visual cortex thoughtdetector 220 can include a plurality of sensors that can be in contactwith a plurality of portions of the user's 102 brain as needed tocollect thought information.

In an embodiment, technologies available for EEG (electroencelphalogram)can be employed within the visual cortex though detector 220. Braincells talk to each other by exchanging tiny electrical signals and anEEG is a non-invasive procedure employed in the medical field forrecording such electrical activity. A number of electrodes are placed atdifferent points on the scalp of a person to detect voltage fluctuationscaused by ionic flow of current between the brain cells. Experimentshave found that when people visually imagine something their eyes movein the a manner that they would move if they were actually looking atthe object of their imagination. For example, if a person imagines askyscraper, the person's eyes move in a top-down manner. Similarly ifthe person imagines a train, the person's eyes would move side to side.The occipital cortex (also called the visual cortex), at the back of thehead is one of the first areas of the human brain where informationcoming in from the user's 102 eyes arrives and where a lot of work ofunderstanding what the user 102 is seeing goes on. Experiments relatedto the brain activity also reveal that the visual cortex of the brain isparticularly active when people imagine or look at an object in theirmind's eye. The visual cortex thought detector 220 is therefore placedat the rear of the user's 102 head near the visual cortex. However, thewearable computing system 100 can have additional electrodes locatedrelative to other parts of the brain to collect information from suchparts to detect the user's 102 imagined thoughts and/or images andemploy it in manipulating the display of the wearable computing system100.

FIG. 3 is an illustration that shows some example details of the tactileelements 110. The plurality of tactile elements 110 are arranged alongthe occular ring structure 302 comprised within the eye gaskets 204, 206along a perimeter of the aperture 304. When one of the eye gaskets 204,206 is used in the wearable computing system 100, the aperture 304 wouldinclude a display screen 114/116. The plurality of tactile elements 110can have different structural details in order to provide differenttactile sensations. By the way of illustration and not limitation,different tactile elements can be made of different materials, bent atdifferent angles as shown in the close up view 306 of the occular ring302 or have different contact surfaces. Such variability in thestructures of the tactile elements 110 facilitates generating differentpressure levels or providing different areas of contact or differenttextures associated with the feelings provided by the tactile feedbackgiven to the user 102. In an embodiment, different ones of the tactileelements 110 may have different shapes and can be arranged in differentways on the frames 124/126. For example, the tactile elements 110 can bearranged such that the lengths of the tactile elements 110 varygradually from one tactile element to an adjacent element or the angleof inclination of the tactile elements can vary gradually as shown onthe frame 124 at 306.

FIG. 4 illustrates various views of one 400 of the tactile elements 110in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. In differentembodiments, the tactile elements 110 can be made from elastic polymersor metals or combinations thereof such as metal arms coated with polymerskin padded with gels that include certain level of elasticity to notonly withstand the vibrations that are generated while providing thetactile feedback but also to transmit the vibrations generated by theuser 102 as different types of user input.

The views 402, 404, 406 and 408 together show an all round view of oneof the tactile elements 110. In particular, 406 and 408 are crosssectional views of 402 and 404 as seen from point of views A and Brespectively. Each tactile element 400 has a base portion 410, a neck412 and a head 414. In an embodiment, the entire length of the tactileelement 400 from center of the base portion 410 to the tip of the head414 can approximately vary between 1-3 centimeters. In an embodiment,different tactile elements can have different lengths based on theirlocation on the frames 124/126 and the area the tactile elements aresupposed to contact. The base portion 410 connects the tactile element400 to the frame 124/126 of an eye piece 104/106. In an embodiment, thebase portion 410 is hollow in order to allow coupling the tactileelement 400 electrically to other parts of the wearable computing system100 such as the processor(s) in the bridge portion 108. Thus, the baseportion 410 not only facilitates physically connecting the tactileelement 400 to the frame 124/126, but also facilitates electricallycoupling the tactile element 400 to other parts of the wearablecomputing system 100.

The neck portion 412 connects the base portion 410 to the head 414 ofthe tactile element 400. Different tactile elements 110 can havedifferent lengths associated with the neck portion. Various tactileelements 110 can also have their necks bent at different angles in orderto vary the kind sensation provided to the user 102 as tactile feedback.In an embodiment, the neck 412 can also be hollow in order toelectrically couple the head 414 to other parts of the wearablecomputing system 100. In an embodiment, the neck 412 can be a solidstructure connecting the head 414 to the base portion 410.

The head 416 of the tactile element 400 is the part that is in contactwith the user's 102 skin in order to provide the tactile feedback. In anembodiment, the head 416 can be made of similar materials as the otherportions of the tactile element 400 but can be configured with aspecific pattern 420 to provide a particular type of sensation on theuser's skin. Different patterns can be formed on the head portions ofdifferent tactile elements as shown for the head portions of the tactileelements 110. In an embodiment, the head 416 can be configured of adifferent material than the other parts of the tactile element 400. Inan embodiment, the head 416 can be made of the same material as theremaining portions of the tactile element 400 but can be coated orcovered with another material. In an embodiment, the head portions ofdifferent tactile elements 110 can be configured according to differentembodiments thereby creating various types of touch sensations.

As described supra, the tactile elements 110 can also be part of thesystem to detect movements of facial muscles of the user. By the way ofillustration and not limitation, movements in the user's 102 skin cancause movements of the tactile elements 110. The attributes of user's102 reaction, such as, strength and duration of movements of the facialmuscles can thus be detected and recorded. Different feedback,comprising one or more of visual, audio or tactile modes can be providedbased on the attributes of the user movements.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing a cross section of one of thetactile elements 110, for example, 400 in accordance with embodiments ofthe present disclosure. As described supra, the tactile element 400comprises a hollow base portion 410, a neck 412 and a head 414. The baseportion 410 not only connects the tactile element 400 to a frame of aneye piece 102/104, but it also houses the actuation mechanism. Theactuation mechanism can be configured in a bi-directional manner so thatit not only provides tactile feedback to the user 102 but also collectsuser input via various movements executed by the user's 102 musclesaround the eyes. The neck 412 connects the base to the head 414 so thatthe head 414 can be actuated to provide an appropriate tactile feedbackor conversely, the movements of the head 414 can be detected to recordthe necessary attributes of the user input.

In accordance with an embodiment, the actuation mechanism comprises asignal contact plate 502 that is in a form-fitting contact with aspherical body 510 to form a ball and socket joint. The spherical body510 is not only capable of freely rotating along the various axespassing through A but can also tilt along the different axes within thesignal contact plate 502. A pair of magnets 508 together with theelectrical coil 516 provide mechanical actuation for the rotatingspherical body 510 when current is passed through the coil 516. Onemagnet of the pair 508 is attached to the rotating sphere 510 while theother magnet is fixed to the bottom of the base 410. Conversely, thepair of magnets 508 also serve to induce current in the coil 516 whenthe rotating sphere 510 is moved due to the mechanical motion of thehead 414 and the neck 412 caused by user input such as, the user 102moving the muscles in the eye socket which are in contact with thetactile element 400.

A connecting wire 520 including ribs 522 is attached to the rotatingsphere 510 and runs through the length of the neck 412 and at least partof the head 414 portion interconnecting the various elements therein.Rotating the sphere 510 within the signal contact plate 502 by passingthe current through the coil 516 therefore pulls or pushes theconnecting wire 520 thereby actuating the neck 412 and the head 414along the vertical axis XY. In addition to providing mechanicalactuation, the connecting wire 520 can also include electricalconnections for the speaker array 504.

In an embodiment, the speaker array 504 can comprise of one or morespeakers 532, 534 and 536 that are configured to provide tactilefeedback, such as vibrations. In an embodiment, the transmittedvibrations facilitate bone conduction so that audio feedback can also beprovided through one or more of the speakers in the array 504. It can beappreciated that the speakers 532, 534 and 536 can be configured foraudio feedback via bone conduction based on the location of the tactileelements 110. For example, tactile elements 110 in contact with softermuscle portions of eye sockets, such as, under the eyes may not beconfigured for audio feedback via bone conduction whereas tactileelements located on the upper part of the frames 124/126 that contactthe brow or the bony nose bridge of the user 102 can be configured forbone conduction according to embodiments described herein. The differentspeakers 532, 534 and 536 can vary in sizes and power attributes toprovide a variety of tactile vibrations based on the power and area ofcontact of each of the array of speakers 504. In an embodiment, the head414 can be made up of plastic and/or metal combination in the portion540 which is not in contact with the user's 102 skin while the faces ofthe speakers 542, 544 and 546 are arranged within a gel pad 506 in orderto provide a softer feel for the user 102. In an embodiment, the gel pad506 can comprise additional elements such as, heating elements (notshown), to provide additional types of tactile feedback to the user 102.

It may be appreciated that the structures in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 are onlyshown by the way of illustration and not limitation and that the tactileelements 110 can be configured to have other structures in accordancewith embodiments detailed herein. For example, the tactile elements 110can be configured as protrusions on the frames 124, 126 comprisingspherical or cylindrical or other shapes. In an embodiment, differentones of the plurality of tactile elements 110 may have different shapesand can be arranged in different ways on the frames 124/126 as discussedsupra. In an embodiment, the tactile elements 110 can compriseelectrical suction cups to provide a particular type of tactile feedbackby pulling the skin of the user 102. In an embodiment, the tactileelements 110 can comprise tiny pin holes located on the frames 124/126.

FIG. 6 is an illustration that shows the plurality of tactile elements110 providing to the user 102, tactile feedback that is synchronous witha particular display that comprises an avatar 600. In this embodiment,each of the plurality of tactile elements 110 are mapped to providetactile feedback associated with, for example, the virtual-worldexperiences of the avatar 600 that may be associated with the user 102.Each of the plurality of tactile elements 110 is associated with acertain one of the body parts of the avatar 600 so that if a particularbody part such as, the head 602 of the avatar 600 experiences aparticular sensation in the virtual world as seen by the user 102 on oneor more of the display screens 114 and 116, then the tactile element 604mapped to the head 602 is activated to give a tactile feedback to theuser 102 at the point of contact between the tactile element 604 and anarea above the user's 102 right eye. For example, if the avatar 600touches an object with the portion 602 of his head, the tactile element604 can be activated to apply pressure on the user's 102 brow at thepoint of contact. Similarly, the avatar's 600 experiences of heat,pressure, or touch of another living being or non-living entity or otherphysical sensations can be provided to the user 102 via appropriateactivation of the one or more tactile elements 110. It may beappreciated that a human avatar 600 is shown only by the way ofillustration and that the plurality of tactile elements 110 can bemapped to other living or non-living avatars and the virtual-worldexperiences of such avatars can be relayed to the user 102 not only viavisual or audio channels but also as tactile sensations through thetactile elements 110. This can facilitate providing user 102 withtactile sensations associated with other living beings such as flying ofa bird or sensations associated with non-living entities such as racingof a car.

In an embodiment, the avatar 600 can be made to interact with thevirtual world displayed on the screen(s) 114/116 via the movement of theeyes and gaze tracking of the user 102. For example, the user 102staring at the avatar 600 for a predetermined time period can facilitateselection of the avatar 600 for interaction. Similarly, moving the gazein a particular direction subsequent the selection can move the avatar600 appropriately and resting the gaze at a point for a predeterminedtime can fix the avatar 600 at the location where the user's 102 gaze isresting or raising the user's 102 eye brows can cause the avatar 600 tojump. As the eyes move rapidly, the time periods associated with theaforementioned user gestures can be around the order of a few seconds.The tactile feedback and gesture mappings can be programmed into thecontent that is provided by the wearable computing system 100. Forexample, video game applications or movies can be created for thewearable computing system 100 that comprise tactile feedback and userinteraction mechanisms built into them.

In an embodiment, where the computing system 100 display the avatar 600comprises a visual cortex thought detector 220, the avatar 600 can bemanipulated based on input provided by the visual cortex though detector220. As described supra, the electrical signals generated by the visualcortex of the user 102 can be detected and interpreted to change thestate of the avatar 600 accordingly. By the way of illustration and notlimitation, the avatar 600 can be moved up or down or side ways or sizeof the avatar 600 can be changed based on the input from the visualcortex thought detector 220.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram depicting certain example modules within thewearable computing device 100 in accordance with an embodiment. It canbe appreciated that certain embodiments of the wearable computingsystem/device 100 can include more or less modules than those shown inFIG. 7. The wearable computing system 100 comprises a processor 700,tactile elements 110, display screen 730, a visual cortex thoughtdetector 220, audio components 740, storage medium 750, power source760, transceiver 770 and a detection module/system 780. While theschematic diagram FIG. 7 the wearable computer system 100 is shown ascomprising a single eye piece since one display screen 730. However, thewearable computing system 100 can include two eye pieces with a displayscreen each which may each have all the modules disclosed herein or theeye pieces can be configured to be used together and can include eachone of the aforementioned modules in order to avoid duplication ofmodules.

The wearable computing system 100 can be configured to include theprocessor 700 at an appropriate location, for example, at the bridgingelement 108. The processor 700 further comprises by the way ofillustration an input/output (I/O) module 702, a control module 704 andan imaging module 706. Again, it can be appreciated that although onlyone processor 700 is shown, the wearable computing system 100 caninclude multiple processors or the processor 700 can includetask-specific sub-processors. For example the processor 700 can includea general purpose sub-processor for controlling the various equipmentcomprised within the wearable computing system 100 and a dedicatedgraphics processor for generating and manipulating the displays on thedisplay screen 730. The I/O module 702 comprised within the processor700 can be configured to receive different types of inputs from variouscomponents such as user gesture input from the detection system 780,user thought input from visual cortex thought detector 220, or audioinputs from audio components 740 such as a microphone. The processor 700can also receive inputs related to the content to be displayed on thedisplay screen from local storage medium 750 or from a remote server(not shown) via the transceiver 770. The processor 700 can additionallyreceive input from the tactile elements 110 regarding movements of theuser's muscles which are monitored by the tactile elements 110 as partof the detection system 780. The processor 700 is also configured toprovide appropriate outputs to different modules of the wearablecomputing system 100 and other networked resources such as the remoteserver (not shown).

The various inputs thus received from different modules are processed bythe appropriate programming or processing logic within the controlmodule 704 of the processor 700 which provides responsive output as willbe detailed further infra. The programming logic can be stored in amemory unit that is on board the processor 700 or the programming logiccan be stored in an external processor readable storage device/medium750 and can be loaded by the processor 700 as required. In anembodiment, the processor 700 can execute programming logic to displaycontent streamed by the remote server on the display screen 730 inaddition to tactile element control logic to activate relevant ones ofthe tactile elements 110 in an appropriate manner and provide tactilefeedback to the user in synch with the displayed content. The commandsrelated to the activation of the tactile elements 110 can be providedwith the content from the remote server and the tactile element controllogic stored on the storage medium 750 and executed by the processor 700can interpret the commands to activate the tactile elements 110appropriately.

In an embodiment, an imaging module 706 also comprised within theprocessor can include programming logic such as a display manipulationlogic executed by the processor 700 in order to create or manipulate adisplay based on the input obtained from one or more of the detectionsystem 780 and the visual cortex thought detector 220. The inputreceived from the detection system 780 relates to eye tracking andmovements of muscles around the eyes of the user 102. Based on thedirection of motion of the eye balls or direction and force of themovements of muscles around the eyes, the display manipulation logic ofthe imaging module 706 can execute various tasks that would normally beexecuted by a mouse or a joystick or other user input mechanism. Thus,the user 102 can execute tasks associated with a computing device suchas generating text or image data by moving his/her eyes or musclesaround the eyes.

In a further embodiment, the imaging module 706 can be employed tochange an existing display, generate new elements in a display based oninput received from the visual cortex thought detector 220. For example,the user 102 can imagine a geometric pattern with a particular colorwith his/her eyes closed. While the detection system 780 may not be ableto provide user input to the processor 700 with the user's eyes closedand no muscle movements, the visual cortex thought detector 220 canobtain information regarding the user's 102 imagination and the imagingmodule 706 can execute be employed to show the user's imagination on thedisplay screen 730. In an embodiment, the imaging module 706 can executeprogramming logic to recreate the user's 102 imagination on the displayscreen 730. In an embodiment, the input from the visual cortex thoughtrecorder 220 can be transmitted by the transceiver 770 to a remoteserver (not shown) where such input is interpreted and a display basedon such input is created and transmitted back to the wearable computingsystem 100. In this case, the imaging module 706 is employed to showsuch received display to the user 102 on the display screen 730. In anembodiment, the I/O module 702 can be further configured to store suchuser experiences/imaginations that are obtained by the visual cortexdetector 220 on a local storage device 750 or a remote server (notshown).

FIG. 8 shows a schematic figure of the wearable computing device 100communicating with a remote server 810. The transceiver 770 included inthe wearable computing device 100 facilitates communication of thewearable computing device 100 with the remote server 810 via a networkcloud 820. The remote server 810 can be configured to execute varioustasks as detailed herein in accordance with different embodiments. Thewearable computing device 100 in an embodiment, streams content from theremote server 810 which can include audio/video (AV) content that hasassociated therewith synchronous tactile feedback information. Theprocessor 700 not only displays the streamed AV content but alsoactivates the tactile elements 110 to provide different types ofsensations to the user 102. The wearable computing system 100 is alsoconfigured to detect user feedback and execute tasks such asmanipulating the display or storing the manipulated display in a localstorage of the wearable computing system 100 or transmitting the userfeedback to the remote server 810 for further processing or storage.

FIG. 9 shows a flowchart 900 illustrating an embodiment of a method ofproviding content to the user 102 as executed by the wearable computingdevice 100. The method begins at 902 with providing content to the user102 via the display screen(s) 114/116 and/or the audio components 740.In different embodiments, the content provided to the user 102 cancomprise one or more of audio and video content associated with tactilefeedback data. The content can be retrieved from a local storage device770 or a remote server 810 according to embodiments described herein.The instructions to provide tactile feedback are also retrieved alongwith the content at 904. The retrieved content is provided to the user102 and simultaneously the tactile feedback is provided to the user viaactivation of the appropriate tactile elements 110 as shown at 906.Various sensations of pressure, heat, prolonged or fleeting sensationsof touch with living and non-living entities can be provided at 906 byactivation of the tactile elements 110 according to embodimentsdescribed herein.

FIG. 10 shows a flowchart 1000 illustrating an embodiment of a method ofproviding interactive content to the user 102 as executed by thewearable computing device 100. This method can be executed inconjunction with the method described above in FIG. 9. The method beginsat 1002 with observing or monitoring the movement of the user's 102 eyesand facial movements around the user's eyes using detectionmodules/systems 780 described herein. The motion of the eyes and/or eyegestures are detected as shown at 1004. At 1006 it is determined if themovement of the user's 102 eyes is mapped to specific task-relatedgestures. Such gestures can include without limitation closing eyes fora predetermined time period, widening the eyes, moving eyes at aparticular speed in a specific direction, staring hard at an icon,raising one or both the eyebrows, squinting or combinations thereof. Forexample, in the case of combination of gestures, the user 102 staring atan object on the screen(s) 114/116 for a predetermined time period cancause the object to be selected and subsequently moving the eyes in aparticular direction can cause the object to be moved on the screen inthe corresponding manner. Some of the gestures can be inadvertant orinvoluntary motion which does not reflect any user intention. Thewearable computing system 100 can be configured to differentiate suchinvoluntary gestures from intentional gestures by for example,associating particular gestures with predetermined time periods. If itis determined at 1006 that particular gestures are related to specifictask(s), such tasks are executed by the wearable computing device 100 inresponse to the detected eye gestures or eye motion at 1008 else, thegesture or motion is ignored as shown at 1010. In either case, thewearable computing system 100 continues to monitor user movements at1002.

FIG. 11 shows a flowchart 1100 illustrating an embodiment of a method ofproviding interactive content to the user 102 as executed by thewearable computing device 100. The method begins at 1102 with thewearable computing system 100 receiving user thought input. The visualcortex located at the rear of the user's 102 head is capable ofproducing visual representations. If an instrument that recordselectrical signals from the visual cortex of the user's 102 brain isplaced at the rear of his/her head, a graphical representation of theuser's 102 imagined pattern or pattern visualized in the user's braincan be generated. Thus, the user 102 can execute tasks such asgenerating text input just by visualizing the appropriate letters andthe wearable computing system 100 will be able to detect and generate atext document that is visualized by the user 102. Similarly, the user102 can visualize patterns, colors or other graphics which can bedetected and reproduced by the visual cortex thought detector 720. Forexample, the user 102 can visualize a vertical movement of an avatar andbased on the electrical signals from the user's 102 brain, the avatarcan be moved accordingly. The electrical signals are interpreted ordecoded as shown at 1104 to obtain pattern and/or color informationassociated with the user's 102 thought input as obtained by the visualcortex thought detector 720. A graphical representation of the user's102 imagination is generated at 1106 and displayed on the displayscreen(s) 114/116 as shown at 1108.

In an embodiment the method of FIG. 11 can be used in conjunction withthe method outlined in FIG. 9. Content with or without tactile feedbackcan be provided to the user 102 via the wearable computing system 100 asdetailed in FIG. 9 and the user's 102 imagination can be used to alterthe provided content as detailed in FIG. 11. The content changed inaccordance with the user's 102 imagination can be displayed on thedisplay screen(s) 114/116.

In an embodiment, the functionality of the visual cortex thoughtdetector 720 can be distributed across network 820 so that only thedetection of electrical signals from the user's 102 visual cortex isperformed by the visual cortex thought detector 720 of the wearablecomputing system 100 while the remaining tasks such as interpretation ofthe signals, reproduction of the user's 102 imagination and generationof the graphics from the detected signals are performed at the server810. The graphics thus generated can be transmitted back to the wearablecomputing system 100 by the server 810 for display on the screen(s)114/116.

FIG. 12 shows a flowchart 1200 illustrating an embodiment of aprocessor-executable method of providing tactile feedback that issynchronous with a display comprising an avatar 600. The method beginsat 1202 wherein a display comprising an avatar 600 is shown to the user102 and user input to manipulate the avatar 600 is received at 1204. Asdescribed herein, inputs from various modules such as, the detectionsystem/module 780, can be employed to manipulate the avatar 600. Theavatar 600 is manipulated based on the user input at 1206. For example,the user 102 can move his eyes in a manner that moves the avatar 600 ina particular direction. The experiences of the avatar 600 whenmanipulated based on the user input are received at 1208. For example,the avatar 600 may come into physical contact with an object in thevirtual world when moved based on the user input as described supra. Theparts of the avatar 600 affected by such experiences are identified at1210 and the tactile elements of the plurality of tactile elementscorresponding to the affected parts of the avatar 600 are determined at1212. Based on the experiences of the avatar 600 the correspondingtactile elements can be activated at 1214. In different embodiments, theplurality of tactile elements 110 can be activated or a subset of theplurality of tactile elements 110 can also be activated. In a furtherembodiment, different tactile elements can be activated in unique waysto provide various tactile sensations to the user 102.

It can be appreciated that in an embodiment, the process described inflowchart 1200 can be executed by the wearable computing system 100. Inan embodiment, the process described in the flowchart 1200 can beexecuted by the wearable computing system 100 in conjunction with aremote server 810. For example, the wearable computing system 100 can beoperable to provide the display at 1202 collect the user input at 1204.The collected user input can be transmitted to the remote server 810which receives the experiences of the avatar 600 at 1206, identifies theparts of the avatar 600 affected by the input at 1208 and the tactileelements corresponding to the affected parts at 1210. In thisembodiment, the remote server 810 can transmit instructions to thewearable computing system 100 to activate the parts at

For the purposes of this disclosure a computer readable medium storescomputer data, which data can include computer program code that isexecutable by a computer, in machine readable form. By way of example,and not limitation, a computer readable medium may comprise computerreadable storage media, for tangible or fixed storage of data, orcommunication media for transient interpretation of code-containingsignals. Computer readable storage media, as used herein, refers tophysical or tangible storage (as opposed to signals) and includeswithout limitation volatile and non-volatile, removable andnon-removable media implemented in any method or technology for thetangible storage of information such as computer-readable instructions,data structures, program modules or other data. Computer readablestorage media includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, EPROM, EEPROM,flash memory or other solid state memory technology, CD-ROM, DVD, orother optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic diskstorage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other physical ormaterial medium which can be used to tangibly store the desiredinformation or data or instructions and which can be accessed by acomputer or processor.

For the purposes of this disclosure a module is a software, hardware, orfirmware (or combinations thereof) system, process or functionality, orcomponent thereof, that performs or facilitates the processes, features,and/or functions described herein (with or without human interaction oraugmentation). A module can include sub-modules. Software components ofa module may be stored on a computer readable medium. Modules may beintegral to one or more servers, or be loaded and executed by one ormore servers. One or more modules may be grouped into an engine or anapplication.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that the methods and systems ofthe present disclosure may be implemented in many manners and as suchare not to be limited by the foregoing exemplary embodiments andexamples. In other words, functional elements being performed by singleor multiple components, in various combinations of hardware and softwareor firmware, and individual functions, may be distributed among softwareapplications at either the client or server or both. In this regard, anynumber of the features of the different embodiments described herein maybe combined into single or multiple embodiments, and alternateembodiments having fewer than, or more than, all of the featuresdescribed herein are possible. Functionality may also be, in whole or inpart, distributed among multiple components, in manners now known or tobecome known. Thus, myriad software/hardware/firmware combinations arepossible in achieving the functions, features, interfaces andpreferences described herein. Moreover, the scope of the presentdisclosure covers conventionally known manners for carrying out thedescribed features and functions and interfaces, as well as thosevariations and modifications that may be made to the hardware orsoftware or firmware components described herein as would be understoodby those skilled in the art now and hereafter.

While the system and method have been described in terms of one or moreembodiments, it is to be understood that the disclosure need not belimited to the disclosed embodiments. It is intended to cover variousmodifications and similar arrangements included within the spirit andscope of the claims, the scope of which should be accorded the broadestinterpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similarstructures. The present disclosure includes any and all embodiments ofthe following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system comprising: at least one tactile elementmounted to a flexible frame of a wearable eye piece on a perimeter of adisplay screen of the wearable eyepiece, the tactile element iscommunicatively coupled to a processor and the flexible frame isconfigured for a shape mating engagement with an eye socket of a humanwearer such that ambient light is blocked; the tactile element comprisesa base, a neck and a head, the tactile element is attached to theflexible frame at the base such that the head of the tactile element isin contact with the wearer's ski; and a bi-directional actuationmechanism comprising a current-carrying coil, a pair of magnets, and asignal contact plate, the bi-directional actuation mechanism isconfigured for actuating the tactile element and detecting movement ofmuscles in the eye socket of the wearer.
 2. The system of claim 1, thebi-directional actuation mechanism is comprised in the base of thetactile element.
 3. The system of claim 2, the bi-directional actuationmechanism further comprises a spherical body within the signal contactplate for actuation of the tactile element.
 4. The system of claim 3, atleast one of the magnets is attached to the spherical body.
 5. Thesystem of claim 4, the spherical body and the signal contact plate areconfigured such that the spherical body can rotate freely along aplurality of axis within the signal contact plate.
 6. The system ofclaim 4, further comprising, a plurality of speakers.
 7. The system ofclaim 6, further comprising a connecting wire that connects thespherical body with the plurality of speakers.
 8. The system of claim 6,further comprising a gel pad arranged such that the gel pad is incontact with the wearer and faces of the speakers are positioned in thegel pad.
 9. The system of claim 1, the tactile element comprises aheating element.
 10. The system of claim 1, further comprising theprocessor.
 11. The system of claim 1, the at least one tactile elementcomprises a plurality of tactile elements.
 12. The system of claim 11, asubset of the plurality of tactile elements have surfaces in contactwith the wearer's skin textured in a manner that is different fromsurfaces in contact with the wearer's skin of a different subset of theplurality of tactile elements.
 13. The system of claim 1, the tactileelement is a suction cup.
 14. The system of claim 1, the tactile elementis a pin hole on the flexible frame.
 15. A method comprising: providinga tactile element on a flexible frame of a wearable eye piece that is inshape-mating engagement with an eye socket of a human wearer such thatambient light is blocked; activating, by a processor, the tactileelement in synchrony with video content displayed on a display screen ofthe wearable eye piece; detecting, by the processor, physical actuationof the tactile element caused by movements in muscles of the eye socket.16. The method of claim 15, activation of the tactile element insynchrony with the video content further comprising: vibrating, by theprocessor, the tactile element by inducing current through a coilcomprised within the tactile element.
 17. The method of claim 15,activation of the tactile element in synchrony with the video contentfurther comprising: heating, by the processor, a heating elementcomprised within the tactile element.
 18. The method of claim 15,activation of the tactile element in synchrony with the video contentfurther comprising: generating, by the processor, suction via thetactile element that attracts the wearer's skin.
 19. The method of claim15, activation of the tactile element in synchrony with the videocontent further comprising: providing, by the processor, audio feedbackto the wearer through speakers comprised within the tactile element. 20.The method of claim 15, detecting, by the processor, the physicalactuation of the tactile element comprises: detecting, by the processor,current induced in a coil comprised within the tactile element due tothe physical actuation.
 21. A computer readable storage medium,comprising instructions, which when executed by a processor cause theprocessor to: activate a tactile element in synchrony with video contentdisplayed on a display screen of a wearable eye piece, the tactileelement is fixed to a flexible frame of a wearable eye piece that is inshape-mating engagement with an eye socket of a human wearer such thatambient light is blocked; detect physical actuation of the tactileelement caused by movements in muscles of the eye socket.